These parade participants got a little too nitty Gritty with their costume designs — and it cost them dearly.

Several marchers of Philadelphia’s Mummers Parade — an annual New Year’s Day tradition since 1901 — were disqualified for wearing blackface while trying to emulate beloved Flyers mascot Gritty.

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The 7-foot-tall, goofy-looking creature is furry and orange with large, googly eyes and always decked out in Philadelphia Flyers gear.

At least two members of the offending group, the Froggy Carr Club, which was established in memory of a beloved friend and football player who died of a head injury decades ago during a game, painted their faces black.

Martin’s argument probably has merit if it weren’t for one flaw — Gritty’s face is entirely comprised of orange fur.

“All the blackface, it ain’t about that,” Froggy Carr Mummer Mike Tomaszwski told KYW. “'Cause I like it. Yeah, why not? I know it’s a shame to be white in Philly right now. It’s a shame.”

Kevin Kinkel, another Mummer and club member, also tried to deny that the gesture was racist.

“It has nothing to do with being racist to the black person or the white person or the yellow person,” he told KYW. "It’s our tradition.”

But Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney wasn’t buying the explanation.

“The use of blackface by someone affiliated with Froggy Carr today was abhorrent and unacceptable,” tweeted Kenney. “This selfish, hateful behavior has no place in the Mummers, or the city itself. We must be better than this. The group was disqualified, and we will be exploring additional penalties.”

“I think it’s terrible,” parade participant Michael McGrail told WPVI-TV. “No one from Froggy Carr would condone that. The issue is there’s 120 actual members, but you have 570 guys. You can’t control all that.”

Part of the problem lies within the traditions themselves, as local news site BillyPenn noted.

“Though its origins are mired in minstrelry and misogyny — and though racist, homophobic and sexist memes still manage to find their way into the event — Philly leaders have been making a serious effort in recent years to reform the celebration from the inside out,” noted BillyPenn.

But despite their best efforts, BillyPenn reported in 2016, “the Mummers really do provide at least one WTF moment every year.”